Scottish renewable marine energy company Orbital Marine Power has been selected as the technology partner for a tidal energy pilot project in the US.
Orbital will partner with Washington-based utility company Orcas Power & Light Cooperative (OPALCO) in developing the 2MW pilot at Blakely Island in Rosario Straight.
The US Department of Energy (DOE) is investing $6 million (£4.7m) to develop a tidal energy research, development and demonstration pilot site.
The DOE shortlisted two tidal projects for the pilot phase, including the OPALCO pilot and a separate tidal project at Cook Inlet in Alaska.
Following the first phase, the DOE will select one of the two projects to receive funding for full project development.
If the OPALCO pilot project is selected by the DOE, the US company will deploy an Orbital O2 floating tidal energy turbine at the Rosario Strait site in the San Juan islands.
© Supplied by Orbital Marine PowerOrbital Marine Power chief executive officer Andrew Scott welcomed the pilot project with OPALCO moving forward.
“It’s positive to see OPALCO reaching this stage in an important funding process, and for their proposals to be firmly based on the deployment of Orbital technology,” Mr Scott said.
“Whilst there is still substantial work to be done before we float our technology in US waters, this milestone underlines growing global appetite for the pioneering progress we are demonstrating in the floating tidal stream space.”
OPALCO managing director Foster Hildreth said the company is exploring all technologies to build reliable, sustainable and carbon-free energy resources for island communities in San Juan County.
“There are no single or simple solutions for figuring out the complexities of our future energy supply in a decarbonised world,” Mr Hildreth said.
“Floating tidal stream energy, as delivered by the Orbital O2, is one of those technologies that could make sense for our islanded territory.”
